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Freddie Mac reported mixed changes of two-hundredths of a percent or less in interest rates this week. Rates remain higher than early September, but are also lower than this time last year for every loan term from 1-year Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM), down 0.46% from last year, to the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) rate, down 0.27% from last year.

The Freddie Mac numbers showed a slight rise in long term rates and a slight drop in 5-year and 1-year ARMS, the opposite of the Mortgage Bankers Association report yesterday which showed a slight drop in long term rates and a fairly big hike in 1-year ARM rates. This may reflect the increasing difficulty in placing anything but conforming Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae mortgages in the current market.

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Freddie Mac Conforming Rates At a Glance

• 30-year FRM: 6.10%, 0.6 point
• 15-year FRM: 5.78%, 0.6 point
• 5-year hybrid ARM: 6.00%, 0.6 point
• 1-year ARM: 5.12%, 0.5 point

LONG-TERM MORTGAGE RATES BARELY MOVE THIS WEEK
Shorter-Term ARMs Fall Slightly
McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.10 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending October 2, 2008, up from last week when it averaged 6.09 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.37 percent.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.78 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.77 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.03 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.00 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.02 percent.A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.11 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.12 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, downfrom last week when it averaged 5.16 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.58 percent.
(Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.)
“Average mortgage rates were nearly unchanged during the past week, leaving rates above the levels of two weeks ago,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Reflecting the rate uptick from two weeks ago, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that loan applications were down 23 percent last week.
“The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index dropped from August’s 49.9 to 43.5 in September, indicating further erosion in new orders, a decline in order backlog, and lessened production, suggesting further cutbacks in manufacturing activity in coming weeks. Consumers are feeling the effects of the slowing economy as well. For example, consumer spending was unchanged in August and revised downward for the month of July.”
Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac raises capital on Wall Street and throughout the world’s capital markets to finance mortgages for families across America. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.